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CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

APPUCATION HLED DEc.26.1916

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

'W. S. HENRY. cmcun'coNmoLLEn.

APPLICATION FILED D'EC. 26.1916.

1,332,2 1 5 Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

UHNE Y 'UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFrcE.

WILLIAM S. HENRY, 0F NEW YORKy N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL RAILWAY SIGNAL COMPANY, OF GATES, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

Application filed December 26, 1916. Serial No. 139,022.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM S. HENRI, a. citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Circuit-Controller, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to circuit controllers for operating' and closing electric circuits, and more particularly to such circuit controllers which are opened and closed by railway switches and the like.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a circuit controller which will be positive in its action, both in opening and in closing circuits; which can be easily, positivelyT and accurately adjusted; and which is so inclosed and protected that it may be used for outside work.

A further object of the invention is to design and construct a circuit controller of the type mentioned, so that contacts thereof will be opened at the beginning of the angular movement of an operating' shaft and will not be again closed until said shaft has almost completed its angular movement.

A further object of the invention is to ('lesign and construct a circuit controller so that the parts thereof may be adjusted easily and accurately to make the operation of the contacts occur after any desired angular degree of movement of the operating shaft.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description of the invention progresses, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated one preferred physical embodiment of the invention, in which like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a device enibod ying my invention with the cover thrown back; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view upon the line 2 2 in Fig. lvlewed in the direction indicated by the arrows a, and showing the crank arm moved to one ofits operated positions and the corresponding pair of contacts closed and the cover 1n its closed position; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view taken on the line 3-8 in Fig. 1 viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows Z2 and showing the crank arm moved to another of its operated positions and the corresponding pair of contacts closed; Fig. et is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the crank arm in its middle position and the contacts in their neutral or open position; Fig. 5 is a detail side view of one of the operating cams with part of the casing removed to show more clearly the construction of the parts by means of which said cam is adjusted on the shaft.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the mechanism embodying the invention is shown as inclosed in a suitable casing 1, said casing 1 having apertured lugs 4, 5, and 6 by means of which the casing may be firmly attached to any suitable support or standard. Both sides of the casing 1, have openings 7 and 8 formed therein, through which wires of the various circuits to be controlled may be led, As it cannot always be known beforehand through which side it will be most convenient to pass the wires; a plate 9 and a conduit cap 10 are supplied, either of which is adapted to be fastened by means of bolts 11, 12, 13 and 14 to either side of the casing 1. If the wires are brought in from the lefthand side, the conduit cap 10 will be fastened to the lefthand side as shown, and the plate 9 will be fastened to the righthand side, but if the wires are brought in from the righthand side, the plate 9 and the conduit cap 10 will be interchanged. Of course, it is obvious that the wires may be brought in from both sides of thel case and in which case another conduit cap would be used in place of the plate 9.

A cover 15 is provided for closing the top of the casing 1. This cover) is pivoted by means of a pin 16 passing through a lug 17 on the cover 15, and through lugs 1S and 19 outstanding from the casing 1 at its rear end. A packing or gasket 2O is placed in a groove 21 which extends completely around the cover 15, and is so situated that when the cover 15 is placed in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 2, the gasket 2O rests upon the upper edge of the casing 1. A groove 22 is also formed transversely of the cover 15 and is so positioned that the gasket 201 therein rests upon a contact cover 23 which its closely against both sides of the casing 1 and extends transversely therebetween.

A pin 24 supported by lugs 25 and 26' on the casing 1 is provided for fastening a hasp link 27 to the casing 1. The other end of the hasp link 27 is curled about a pin 28 which is fastened in a hasp 29. The hasp 29 has a longitudinal slot therein which is arranged to receive an apertured lug 30, which is either cast integral with the cover 15 or fastened rigidly thereto. v

By placing the cover 15 in the closed position as shown in Fig. 2, and then swinging 'the hasp 29 into the position as shown in Fig. 2, considerable pressure is exerted by the hasp 29 to vforce the cover l5 down tightly upon the casing 1 thereby compressing 'the gasket 2O and forming a water tight joint entirely around the top edge of the casing 1 and lalso along the cover plate 23 so that chamber 31 isprotected froinwater either atthe junction between the cover 15 and the `top-edge of the casingl or between the 'cover 15 and the top edge of'the'cover 'plate 23. By inserting va padlock in the hole 301 in the apertured lug 30, the cover `maybe locked in the closed position.

yThe casingl yhas a rib 32 rising from the bottom thereof and ribs 33 and 34 projecting from the sides thereof. These ribs have holes Ctherethrough to receivebolts, 35, 36, and 37 by'means of which a contact panel 38, made of any suitable insulated material, is firmly attached thereto, and is drawn so tightly against the ribs 32, 33 and 34 that for allpracticalgpurposes a water tight joint is formed, thus completing the isolation of chamber 31 from outside moisture. v ITheconstruction as above described `provides'a watertight chamber 31 and a chamber 39 whichl is almost water tight depending upon the tightness ofthe joint between the: colfduitcap 10 and any conduit to which it isA connected. lt-will, however,'be apparent that trouble'is-not so-likely to occury from water or moisture in chamber 39, as in chamber31,there being no operating contacts to corrodeand thewires which enter this chanibright, luntarnished andelectrically conducting condition.

Although the construction above described prevents the entrance ofmoisture or water into the chamber 31, it does' not prevent the condensation of moisture upon the under side of cover 15. Heretofore such condensed moisture forming upon the under side of cover 15 has been a source of considerable annoyance, because after condensing, it forms drops which fall upon the contacts 46, 47 and 48, cause them to tarnish and so destroy their `power of conducting electricity or at least, greatly increases the resistance at the points of Contact. A remedy for such diliiculty has been provided in the cover plate 23, which is pivoted on pins 49 and 50 fastened in the opposite sides of the casing 1. The cover plate 23 is prevented from becoming displaced by means of the cotter pins '51. Thev cover plate 23 extends over all of the contact springs when in the position shown in Fig. 2, consequentlyany moisture which y-may collect on the under side of the cover `15and then drop, is prevented from falling onvthe 'co1'1tacts46,'47 land 48. Furthermore, lthe changes in temperature outside ofthe casing 1 will ynot cause a condensation of'moisture on the under side of cover plate 23, yby reason of the fact "that there is a body of air betweenthe cover vplate 23 Vand the outside ycover 1,5.

ABy referring to'Fig. `1, it will be seen that the panel38 hasinounted thereon a series offcontact'groups arranged in rows, each of vvsaid rows constituting a contact group, comprising a pair of fixed contact fingers and a movable contact arm. Each of said contact groups is capable of controlling certainfelectric circuits and is so constructed that they may be operated jointly, in a manner hereinafter more fully -explained, and since all of these contact groups are the same a description of one will suffice for all.

:Included in each of the above contact groups andsupported by the contact panel 33 are bindingy posts 40,41 and-42. Each of these"binding posts include a bolt which extends' through the contact panel 38 and holds the "brackets 43, y44 and v"45, respectively', 110 tightly againstlthe `contact panel 38 and also makes electrical connection with `such brackets, `thus serving as a means to conductI electricity from one yside of the panel 38, that is the side exposed-to .chamber .39, 115 to the; other iside ofthe said panel 38, that is the side exposedto 'the chamberv 31, and at the same time to offer vno `opportunity for waterorinoisture to pass from one chamber tofthe'other.

The bracket 45 bears a resilient contact arm 46 whichlmay be, by means hereinafter described, moved from contact with av contact spring v47, supported by bracket 44, shown in Fig. 2, into contact with a con- 125 tact spring 48, supported on bracket 43, shown in'Fig. 3, or saidrarm 46 may be moved 'to a middle or lneutral position. When speaking of the contact springs 47 and 48 hereinafter, the contact spring 47 130 will be termed the reverse contact and the contact spring 48 will be termed the normal contact.

Extending transversely of the contact arms 46 are two insulating blocks 52 and 53. These blocks are of suitable insulating material located one on each side of the contact springs 46 and supported thereon by means of dowel pins 54 (see Fig. 2) which pass through a hole in each of said contact arms 46 and into holes adapted to receive them in each of the insulatin blocks 52 and 53. The contact springs 46 nt into slots formed in the inner faces of said insulating blocks, and these slots are so formed that although the insulating blocks 52 and 53 may be tightly pressed together at the top, the contact arms 46 may still aline themselves without cramping when moved from one position to the other position.

One end of a guide arm 56 is securely fastened to the insulating blocks 52 and 53 by means of bolts 57 and 58, said bolts also acting to hold the insulating blocks 52 and 58 tightly clamped together. The other end of the guide arm 56 is bifurcated and has two flat bearing surfaces or guides 561 and 561, best shown in Fig. 2, which are adapted to bear on a cylindrical collar 59 fitted on a square shaft 60. The guide arm 56 has journaled on opposite sides thereof, by means of a pin 61, two rollers 62 and 63.

These rollers 62 .and 63 are so located that they lie respectively in the paths of movement of the cam shells designated generally by 64 and 65. The cam shell 64, best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, has two separate curved flanges 66 and 67, supported from the body portion 68 of the cam shell 64, by means of radial ribs 69, forming, respectively, separate cam faces 661 and 671 adapted to coact with the roller 62, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. The cam shell 65 is similar in construction to the cam shell 64 and also has two curved flanges 70 and 71,

which are supported from the main body portion 72 by means of the radial ribs 73, and which form as in the case of cam shell 64, separate cam faces 701 and 711 adapted to coact with the roller 63. By referring to Figs. 2 and 4, it will be seen that each of the cam shells 64 and 65 have along and a short cam face but that the cam faces on the cam shell 65 are reversely arranged as compared with the cam faces on the cam shell` 64. These cam faces are also, for reasons to be later more fully explained, of dierent radial distances from the centers of their respective cam shells. Referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the cam faces 701 and 711 on the flanges and 71 respectively, are slightly cut away or beveled, as at 74 and 7 5, respectively, so as to provide a clearance for the roller 63 when one of said cam faces is about to disengage said roller and the other of said cam faces is about to engage it. The cam faces 66 and 67 of the cam faces 661 and 671 are also cut away or beveled, as shown in Fig. 2 and indicated by 76 and 77 respectively, for a clearance for roller 62.

The square shaft 60 extends transversely of the casing 1 and on either end has bushings 78 which are supported in the bosses 7 9 formed integral with the sides of the casing 1. This shaft bears at intervals the two drivers 80 (see Fig. 5) which have teeth cut about their entire periphery. These drivers 80 form a part of two adjustable cams and since their construction is the same a description of. one is considered sufficient. The teeth of the driver 80 engage with a worm wheel 81 which is journaled in a clamp 82, said clamp 82 being pivoted on a pin 83 supported by the walls of the cam shell 64. A bolt 85 passes through the apertures of the lug 84 and the end of the clamp 82, so that by means of the nuts 86, the clamp 82 may be held firmly in a given position relative to the. lug 84, and since the worm wheel 81 is journaled in the clamp 82 and bears against the driver 80, it may be clamped so firmly against the driver 80 that it cannot be turned by means of a screw driver inserted in a slot 87. In order to allow the cam shell 64 to rotate relatively to the shaft 6U, when desired, bushings 88 have been placed upon the shaft 60, and the cam shell 64 has been made to bear upon their outer circular periphery.

The normal position of the shaft 60 would, if the cam shell 64 were rigidly attached thereto, determine the exact position of the cam faces on the flanges 66 and 67. but as different conditions require different operations of a circuit controller, it is necessary to provide an adjustment between the shaft 60 and the cam shell 64. This adjustment is provided by the parts just described in connection with the driver 80, the worm wheel 81, the clamp 82 and the bolt 85. If the position of cam shell 64 for the particular situation is not as it should be, then in order to adjust it, it is merely necessary to loosen the nuts 86, thereby loosening clamp 82, which allows the worm wheel 81 to be freely turned by means of a screw driver inserted in slot 87. As the driver 80 cannot vrotate aboutl shaft 60 a turning of the worm wheel 81 will cause a rotation of cam shell 64, as has been explained, about the axis of the shaft 60. When the desired position of the cam faces 661 and 671 on the danges 66 and 67 has been reached, the nuts 86 are tightened, thereby causing clamp 82 to clamp the worm wheel 81 tightly against the driver 80 so that all parts will remain permanently `in the adjusted position.

This method of adjustment, it should be observed, is extremely precise, so that a very minute change in the cam surfaces may forced to move with the driver 80 even if after making an adjustment, by loosening nuts 86, the person so doing neglects to tighten the said nuts. As the means for Vadjustment are the same for cam 65 as described for cam 64 it is considered that a description of one will suffice for'both and the means herein described for the adjustment ofthe cams is the same as that shown and described in the Patent Number 1,162,698, granted to lV. S. Henry, November 30, 1915.

The shaft 60 is operated by a crank arm S9, which isvpinned to one end ofv theshaft 60 outside of the casing 1, best shown in Fig. `1, so 'that a movement of the crank arm 89, by any suitable means, causes a movement of the circuit controllers within the casing 1. The other end of the shaft 60, which extendsoutside offthe casing v1, is protected -by means of a shield90which is pinned to the shaft'60. Endwise movenient ofthe shaft is prevented bymeans of the shield 90 on one side, the crank arm S9-on the other side and the cotter pins 91 within the casingl.

By referring to Figs. 3 and 4, of the drawings, it will be apparent, from the description of the adjustment of the cam faces 661, 671, 701 and 711 about the axis of the shaft 60 previously given, that it is possible to adjust 'the said cam 'faces so that they will coact with the rollers 62 and '63 and cause the contacts, 46,47 land 48 to respond to practically any desired angular degree of movement of the crank armv89.

With all of the parts in the position as shown in Fig. 2, the Contact arm'46 makes contact with the contact spring 47. If the crank arm 89 is moved towardA the normal position, that is in the direction indicated by the arrow c, the cam shell 64 will be rotated in a clockwise direction and the cam face 661 will be moved out of engagement with the roller 62. As soon as the cam `face 661 is moved out of engagement vwith the.

roller '62, the guide arm 56 which is fastened to the contact arm 46 and carries the rollers 62 and 63, as before described, will be free to be moved in the direction indicated by the arrow d, in Fig. 2. As the crank arm S9 continues to move, in the direction indicated by the arrow c, the cam face 671, on the cam shell 64, will engage the roller 63 causing the guide arm 56, guided by its bearing surfaces 561 and 562 which bear on the collar 59, to bemoved in the direction indicated by the arrow d until the roller 63 touches the cam face 701 on the cam shell 65. The contact arm 46 will thus be moved ont of contact with the con- 'tact spring 47 and the circuit Ywhich may have beenclosed iby the coacting of the two last mentioned contacts will be interrupted.

Should the crank arm `89fben1oved continuously from one of its extreme ypositions vto. the otherof said eXtreme positions, or in, other words, from the position as shown in `Fig. 2, of the drawings, to the position as yshown in Fig. 3, fthe guide arm 56, through the medium of the rollers `62 .and 63 acted uponfby the .cam faces y671 and 701 respectively, `will hold the contact spring 46 in an intermediate position, vvor, a position corresponding `to that shown .in Fig. 4, .until the cam'shell 65 has been rotated far enough for thecam face 7 1 to'be moved out of the path oftheroller-Gand at-which time the roller 63 willbe engaged by the cam face 711, on the cam shellf265, causing the guide arm 56 to be moved "farther in the direction-indicated-.by the. arrow d until the contact arm v46 comesinto .contact with contact/48.

lt willtherefore be apparent that the contact arm 46 .willvbreak contact'with contact 47 after a very slight movement of the crank arm 89 `and thereafterduringuthe remainder of the movement of the crankarml89 will be held positively open and will not make contact with the contact spring:48 until the crank arm 89 has nearly completed itsmovement. Should the crank arm 89 be 'stopped in any intermediate position 1in .its'ftravel from one eXtreme position' tothe other .of said positions, it will-f be apparent thatthe contact arm 46 ywillbe -held positively in its intermediate or neutral position, as shown in 4,fof the,l drawings.

A circuit controller ofthe"` kind embodied in this inventionis specially adapted ffor use in railway signalingv systems to control such signal circuits which it is Ydesiredrto have opened or closed inthenormal, the intermediate or 'the reversepositionsofrail way switches. It is afwell-known.fact` that 110 railway switches are usuallyguardedfbysignals Vand it. is 'desirable,for.dbvious reasons, that, while aswitch is beingmoved "from thelnormal tothe reverse positions, or viceversa; orwhile saidswitch 'isHi-n anyin- 115 termediate position, the signal guarding said switch should be placed in the danger position and vlit should be impossible to change said signal 'fromithe danger position until said switch has been moved far enough 12o in a. giff'en direction-to assure lthe safe paissageof a train thereover. The above conditions ma-y be satisfied bythe use of a circuit controller of the kind embodying this invention, the crank arm of which is .con- 125 nected directly to the switch points by a rod or other suitable means, since the circuits, whichare "desired to be opened and closed, may be opened and closed at any desired position of the switch points.

From the foregoing description and application of principle, it can .be seen that if anything happens to prevent a perfect or complete operation of the switch or other device operating the circuit controller, the defect will be indicated b v opening the circuits controlled thereby.

The complete mechanism heretofore described Will be perceived to contain elements rendering it positive in action; easily adjustable through a very wide range; and of such a nature that the parts will readily remain in an adjusted position. It will further be noticed that there are comparativeljfY feW operating parts, making it easily constructed and inexpensive to manufacture.

Although I have particularly described the construction of one physical embodiment of my invention and explained the operation .and principle thereof, nevertheless I desire to have it understood that the form selected is merely illustrative and does not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying my invention.

What I claim as nen7 and desire to secure by Letters Pate-nt of the United States, is:

l. In a three-position circuit controller, a movable contact element, an operating shaft, a guide arm connected at one end to said contact element and guided at its other end by said shaft, two cams attached to said shaft and relatively adjustable thereon, each of said cams having a long and a short cam face substantially concentric with the axis of the operating shaft and at dilferent radial distances therefrom, the long cam faces of said cams being in part co-extensive around the shaft and at different distances therefrom, and two rollers carried by said guide arm and coperating separately With the faces of said cams.

2. In a three-position circuit controller, a movable contact element, an operating` shaft, a guide arm connected to said contact element at one end and guided at its other end by said shaft, two rollers carried by said guide arml and projecting from opposite sides thereof, and tWo cams adjustably secured to said shaft and disposed on opposite sides of the guide arm, each of said cams having a long and a short face substantially concentric with and at different radial distances from the axis of the operating shaft, the long faces of said cams being in part co-extensive around the shaft, said cams co-acting separately With said rollers to control the movement of the guidearm from a corresponding extreme position to its middle position.

3. In a three-position circuit controller, a movable contact element, an operating member connected to said contact element and insulated therefrom, tivo rollers carried by said member and projecting from opposite sides therefrom, an operating shaft, and tivo cams carried by said shaft and cooperating with said rollers separately to shift said operating member from a corresponding extreme position to a middle position, each of said cams having tivo laterally projecting curved flanges forming.;` concentric long and short cam faces at different radial distances from the axis of the operating shaft, said cams having their long cam faces extending in part through overlapping angles one inside the other to engage their respective rollers simultaneously on opposite sides thereof.

il.. In a three-position circuit controller, a movable contact element, an operating shaft, a guide arm connected at one end to said contact element and guided at its other end by said shaft, and cams separately adjustable around the operating shaft for reciproeating said guide arm.

5. In a three-position circuit controller, a movable contact element, an operating shaft, a guide arm connected to said contact elew ment and guided by said shaft, co-axial rollers carried by said guide arm and projecting from opposite sides thereof, and tivo cams adjustably mounted on said shaft and cooperating with said rollers separately.

6. In a three-position circuit controller, a movable contact element, an operating member connected to said element and insulated therefrom, tvvo rollers carried by said operating member and projecting from opposite sides thereof, an operating shaft, and two cams arranged side by side on said shaft cooperating separately With said rollers.

7. In a circuit controller, a movable contact element, a roller operatively connected to said contact element, an operating shaft, and a cam secured to said shaft and having long and short faces of different radii concentric With the axis of said shaft, said cam faces acting against opposite faces of thc roller in dilferent positions of the operating shaft.

8. In a three-position circuit controller, a movable contact element, an operating shaft, tvvo cam'shells relatively adjustable on said shaft and each having long and short laterally projecting curved flanges supported by radial ribs, said flanges having dilferent radii concentric with the axis of said shaft, the -long flanges 'of the respective cams being in part co-extensive around the shaft, and means acted upon in opposite directions by the flanges of the respective cams for operating said contact element.

9. In a three-position circuit controller, an oscillatory operating shaft, a cylindrical collar on said shaft, a guide arm having one end bifurcated and guided by said collar, rollers carried by said guide arm and projecting from opposite sides thereof, two cams attached to said shaft and relatively adjustable thereon, said cams being arranged on opposite sides of said collar and being adapted to coperate separately with said rollers, and a movable Contact element connected to said guide arm. i

l0. In a three-position circuit controller, a movable contact element7 an oscillatory operating shaft, two cams relatively adjustable on said shaft, each of said cams having longk and short cam faces of different radii concentric with the axis of said sha-ft, and operating means connected to said contactelement7 said cams being arranged with their respective long and short faces acting upon said operating means in opposite directions.

WILLIAM S. HENRY. 

